Speed Update

Since December we have had 3 days of record attempts: One in France and two in the UK.

Masters of Speed (MOS) - January 3rd

France happened on January 3rd and was a non-starter for me as I was physically unable to make the event. It was very disappointing indeed. It was a great day of port tack speedsailing. Antoine won the session with some incredible times, putting Finian on notice that this is not a one horse race. Finian responded and has not missed a day at Driven by Wind. The pressure is on.

You can see the full write up on the MOS website (follow links on http://www.hydroplay.com/ ). MOS is also live on Windsurf Journal when the action is taking place. There is also a great video on that site.

Driven By Wind

Dave White, event organiser at Driven by Wind (DBW), has always maintained that Southend is THE place for Speedsailing. I had never sailed there but having sailed at West Kirby, I thought he was delusional. I mean that place glassy, even in a gale. How could a coastal location ever measure up to that? The wall at West Kirby provides incredible protection against the wind. When I saw the photos of Southend, I was partially convinced. When I sailed there, I was blown away. It`s incredible. It is very similar to Namibia, only flatter and broader (in the right wind). The big advantage over Kirby is that it is a long course. Nautical Mile attempts are possible here, let a lone a 500M attempt. I am convinced this is the place in the UK.

Day 1 at DBW - The Ray, Southend-on-Sea, England

This was flattish and square, a little like Namibia. I would say it was gusting over 40 Knots, not much more. I took the 37cm custom board, a 22cm fin and a 5.2, and topped it off with 10kg of lead (which floated).

Let me say one thing. I had heard there was a walk to the beach. Now there are walks and there are walks. Walking directly into 40 knots of wind carrying a 3.5kg speedboard, 5.2m sail and 10kg of lead is not fun, especially for 900m. I am serious. 900m. Incredible. I was shattered when I reached the water.

But the conditions were so good, it was worth it. When I was lit, I ad a great day. I think I came 6th or something, setting a Personal Best of 41.15 knots over 500m.

The main things I learned were that when the wind falls below gale force, the 37cm board does not work well at all. It is a nightmare to get up wind also in any sort of chop. I resolved that next time, I would take my 41cm board.

I am sure that 37cm board is good for 50 knots plus. It`s an amazing piece of kit, but I just could not quite get the best out of it due to being underpowered and the water state being slightly too choppy.

Finian was close to a production board record. Well done to him. These were the final results:

Finian Maynard 44.32knots

Dave White 42.81knots

Dirk Doppenebrg 42.62knots

Martin Van Meurs 41.78knots

Simom Hinkley 41.60knots

John Smalley 41.15knots

Bob Cunningham 41.04knots

Steve Thorp 40.91knots

Bart Goemans 40.13knots

Farrel Oshea 39.94knots

Andrew Brown 38.92knots

Jamie Dodds 38.68knots

Pete Davis 38.09knots

Minos Efstathiadis 37.15knots

Timo Mullen 35.95knots

Denis Royet 35.63knots

Southend definately lived up to the hype and we hoped that next time we would have broader conditions, which would take us to much greater speeds.

Day 2 at DBW - The Ray, Southend-on-Sea, England

Speaking to Finian and Dave the day before, anticipation was high that this could be THE day. On paper, it looked as though we could face world record conditions. According to the forecasts, it would be over 50 knots and much broader than before. Expectations were very high indeed.

It turned out the wind was a little lighter than planned but the biggest story was the chop. It was horrendous.

Check this out. Here is a pic of me coming down the course. Nice and "flattish."

I had over 44knots on the GPS for 10 seconds and a max gps of 45.4 knots. Then this:

So the forecast was there, everything was looking great, but it was simply too choppy. This was my fastest run and was a total binjob. I stopped well before the end. I watched Finan come down right after me and was pleased to see he also stopped.

I was on my 41cm board this time which was the right call but still I was undergunned with the chop. I really needed my Naish Sp60 to plough through it. That said, I was happy on the gear. I need time on it. I was content with my max GPS, which was a personal best for me, and I was happy overall given the kit I was using.

But that day was never going to be my day for a number of reasons: No show by the caddy; wrong board; wrong fin; too choppy etc. I think I only made a couple of runs down the course, which was very badly marked. (In fact on one of my best runs I stopped 100m short of the end as I thought i had passed it.) No excuses but the bottom line is that I want to make the Canal in France in one piece and I want to get the small boards running. If I hospitalise myself in France, c`est la vie, at least I would have got the t-shirt, right?!

Anyway, others had a much better day than me and Finian pushed much closer to the production board record, which he will surely smoke on the right day. See the results:

www.drivenbywind.com/rounds/jan31/index.html

Now we wait. Until next time.

Aloha,

John

Private Record Attempt Season Commences - Sitting, waiting, wishing

We are on hold. We need 45-50 knots of wind in the right direction in the right place. The good news is we have 2 places and one long winter.

The Masters of Speed (http://www.mastersofspeed.com/) is my primary competition - it`s in Southern France.

Now we have the much taunted Southend location to tap into also (http://www.drivenbywind.com/).

Follow the action here as it happens. For now, I am back in hibernation, studing weather patterns.

Aloha,

John

ISA 2007 Season Over

The ISA 2007 world tour is over. I am glad. It was getting expensive and whilst Namibia yielded my first "official" over 40 knot run, it is time to up the pace. Now we are into private record attempt territory. You will be able to follow my progress here as I spend as much time training, testing and going as fast as possible.

Aloha

John